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Tuesday

Aug 21, 2012 at 12:01 AM

Setting the standard with these random thoughts for a Tuesday:

Bob Highfill

Setting the standard with these random thoughts for a Tuesday:

» Augusta National Golf Club finally decided to enter the real world and admit female members for the first time in its 80 years. The club set the bar high with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore. They'll receive their green jackets in October.

» Martha Burk can turn her attention to next year's British Open at Muirfield Village in Scotland, where females aren't allowed as members.

» Through two preseason games, the 49ers' pass protection has been suspect and the Raiders' offense has reached the end zone once. There's still time and both teams have work to do.

» The replacement officials have proven two things this NFL preseason: it's a tough job, and the league and the NFLRA need to settle their differences.

» Texans owner Bob McNair said he hasn't noticed an increase in bad calls this preseason. NFL owners don't seem worried about any possible consequences of the lockout with officials.

» Dallas Braden received bad news last week that his surgically repaired left shoulder requires a second procedure that will prevent him from pitching this season. Best wishes for the Stagg High graduate and Stockton resident.

» High school sports are upon us. Football season kicks off for 23 area schools this week.

» Victor Conte, founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, ground zero for performance-enhancing drugs in the 1990s and 2000s, said beating Major League Baseball's drug test is like "taking candy from a baby." Conte said in an interview last week with ESPN Radio he believes as much as 50 percent of MLB players use PEDs.

» Melky Cabrera got a 50-game suspension for testing positive for testosterone. The disgraced Giants outfielder should receive more punishment for trying to cover it up with a fake website for a fictitious product that he would have claimed had caused the positive test, an attempt detected by MLB investigators. Cabrera might end up being the tipping point for more stringent drug testing in baseball.

» Former Giants second baseman Jeff Kent is in this season's cast of "Survivor: Philippines," which starts Sept. 19. As long as he doesn't have to do wheelies on a motorcycle, Kent should be fine.

» Former Pacific guard Dell Demps, general manager of the New Orleans Hornets, is building a young team behind No. 1 draft pick Anthony Davis. The direction the Hornets are taking has caught the eye of former Jazz forward Stephen Howard, who said in an article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, "The direction the Hornets are in right now is really positive. I think general manager Dell Demps has done a tremendous job trying to build them into a team that will contend day in and day out."